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GAY BINGO HELD IN EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN DIOCESE OF CONNECTICUT
By David W. Virtue
NORWALK, CT (11/5/2004)--Gay Bingo has come to the Episcopal Church.
In the Diocese of Connecticut at the parish of St. Paul's on the Green a "gay bingo" night was held there recently, a return second season. One parishioner called it "this outrageous event."
Once again, Sybil Bruncheon (a.k.a. John Burke), ably assisted by Fabio Gorgissimo, will call out the numbers while dealing out the quips, barbs and double entendres that make the evening so enjoyable and memorable. A $20 donation was requested at the door which included 15 games, said an advertising blurb.
The Norwalk News noted, "It is yet more evidence that 'gay' is not gay. Can you imagine anything drearier and more tiresome than such an evening of "quips, bars and double entendres"? It makes me sad for the people for whom it will indeed be an enjoyable and memorable evening and encourages me to pray harder for them. I know that sounds terribly "pi" but what else can the Christian do?"
When VirtueOnline contacted the church I was told that the rector the Rev. Nicholas Lang was out of town, but a secretary said the Gay Bingo night was not sponsored by the church, and that it was strictly a fundraiser put on by the mid Fairfield AIDS project - an outside group - that rents the space. Mr. Stuart Lane who heads the AIDS project did not return calls from VirtueOnline.
There website features extravagantly dressed transgendered persons in cross-dressing outfits hyping it up in a drag performance among other things. http://www.mfap.com/events.htm A video clip of the performance can be seen here. Said one reader, "it seems they want to celebrate the very behavior that causes AIDS in the first place."
The banner says they are "saving lives everyday"!
http://www.mfap.com/Video/bingo.asx
http://www.mfap.com/Video/Bingogasmsb.asx
Bishop Andrew D. Smith could not be reached for comment.
A local historian noted that the Rev. Jackson Kemper, missionary bishop to the West who began Nashotah House and the first missionary bishop in the US was originally from this parish. "It is an old historic church with a great tradition, and now it lowers it self to this! The end, AIDS relief, does not justify the means. This parish is not being faithful to its mission."
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